Question for the forum?

this is a discussion within the Saints Community Forum; whether or not we are wild card worthy, it is likely that we will qualify for the playoffs, either by dint of winning against tb or one of the other teams losing a game.
but we would not be worthy, ...

If we beat the Panthers we win the division and have the #2 seed. Even if we lost to Tampa in week 17 and they won, we'd have the tiebreaker. We would still have the #2 seed even if we went 11-5 and the 49ers went 12-4 because they can only get a wildcard with Seattle winning the division. The NFC North and East winners don't pose any kind of threat.

It would be interesting to see how the Saints played week 17 if they do beat the Panthers. You would think they would bench guys and rest up for the playoffs but with a bye week coming and lingering issues from the Rams game I wonder if Payton wouldn't try to get them playing well so they have some momentum going.

refer back to 2009, when we lost 2 in a row and still sat everyone in the finale

If we beat the Panthers we win the division and have the #2 seed. Even if we lost to Tampa in week 17 and they won, we'd have the tiebreaker. We would still have the #2 seed even if we went 11-5 and the 49ers went 12-4 because they can only get a wildcard with Seattle winning the division. The NFC North and East winners don't pose any kind of threat.

It would be interesting to see how the Saints played week 17 if they do beat the Panthers. You would think they would bench guys and rest up for the playoffs but with a bye week coming and lingering issues from the Rams game I wonder if Payton wouldn't try to get them playing well so they have some momentum going.

I'm sure some players would see limited rolls in week 17. If we beat Carolina I would use TB as a game to get tape on some lessor played players.
K Robinson
Toon
Get another center some snaps
Etc..

If we beat Carolina I would almost send out the new kicker against Tampa, every time we get to a spot within range, any time in the red zone, to make sure the mechanics with the holder and the unit are good. And make him kick off instead of Morstead, just to kick the tires and see if he can do it. Maybe not quite really in real life, but if we beat Carolina I'd almost do that. "They need to stop getting 7's and start settling for 3's" LOL.